The King and I
by JuneGilbertVivianRaeven
Summary: Carly Carmine is lonely, bullied by her boss and maligned by her peers in journalism. One day she's making her way home, and a thunderstorm starts. Normal enough,right? But this storm brings unexpected visitors... A certain blond who she hasn't seen in person for five years and his Duel Runner. What will happen to Carly when he brings his demons with him? First 5Ds fic, plz R&R!
1. Chapter 1 Carly's Rainy Day Surprise

Carly Carmine X Jack Atlas (in other words, The Reporter and The King of Games)

Chapter One

"Oh no, not a rainstorm…. I didn't bring my umbrella… PleasepleasePLEASE don't rain," I begged the thunderous grey skies.

They didn't look inclined to answer my plea as I quickly put my attention back on the road. I was on the way home from work, and it looked like I would be caught in another of Neo Domino's famous rain squalls. I groaned in exasperation at my terrible luck. It didn't help my morale that my Duel Deck mostly relied on my (sweet but very unreliable) Fortune Fairy cards. To be good with such a deck involved a certain amount of luck that I apparently didn't have. Thus my issues with the dratted rain, my temperamental boss, and my absolutely nil love life. Then again, the object of my affections had been away for five years, with very little correspondence between us besides the occasional letter and email and the TV reports on his dueling career I got through my small, battered TV set. A pang of loneliness arced through me, but I ignored it. By now, I was used to feeling lonely in a crowd.

Shaking my head to clear it of stupid, lovesick thoughts, I squealed when I looked up. I had swerved dangerously and people were now apparently vigorously cursing me out in their cars. Someone flipped me the birdie from their sleek, modern green car. I moaned, resisting the temptation to whack my head on the steering wheel of my rattletrap old car. Just great. Another embarrassment to add on top of the heaping helping I had every day in front of Fisher Rathbone (my boss). I had just covered a halfway decent story, however, so I hoped Rathbone wouldn't fire me just yet. Rathbone was constantly threatening me with unemployment when I goofed up or made a completely klutzy move. My coworkers now had a name for when someone screwed up: a "Carly Carmine Caper". _Oh yeah._ _Real clever of you, buddies_. I adjusted my glasses, wincing as I quickly readjusted the steering wheel so I wouldn't drive into a street sign.

I sighed wearily as I finally parked beside my apartment building. Home, sweet home to me. With a crack of thunder and a flash of lightning, the skies opened up, releasing a flood of rain. I moaned again, trying and failing to find a bright side to this day. Quickly opening my door, shutting, and locking it I then dashed to the breezeway of the apartment complex. Panting and already soaked to the skin, I fumbled for my key. For once, I found it quickly. Sticking it in the lock, I turned it and tumbled into my darkened apartment. With a great effort and a lot of scrabbling on the wooden floor, I managed to close the mercifully thick door of my apartment. Trying to catch my breath, I fumbled for the light switch.

When it clicked on, I surveyed my small apartment. The small TV, the secondhand couch, and an armchair that painfully reminded me of days gone by (Jack's favorite slouching spot) were the only furnishings in the wood floored, off white walled apartment. I could barely afford the rent on this place, but I fought for it. Too many good memories were held in this place for me to give it up without a fight. I smiled faintly, scrubbing the budding tears from my eyes. A bellow of thunder made me jump. _I shouldn't dwell on Jack_, I reflected. _Even if he hadn't even been rumored to be with another girl the whole five years he had been gone. That still didn't mean he couldn't be with some other, more beautiful girl…_

I moaned softly, shaking my head angrily. I had no buissness with Jack Atlas, the King of Dueling. I was just a reporter who happened to be an almost friend of Jack. Who he wrote long, detailed letters to reliving his highest points (mostly duels) in vivid detail. Who he asked about her day, commiserated when Rathbone had been particularly cruel and wrote long, fuming anecdotes on what he would do to Rathbone if he got his hands on him (which always made me laugh, if feel a little scared that his antics would finally get me fired if he ever followed through). Thunder roared again as I stood there in my sopping clothes, remembering the letters and emails I still had on my laptop. I had squirrled away the letters in my battered laptop desk drawer that I kept in my bedroom. Jack's handwriting had been really bad at first, but improved with practice. My eyes, behind my dratted glasses, started to fill with tears again at the spurt of memories.

Jack's laughter. His Australian accent that could melt me in seconds. Even his arrogance and rough n' tough image failed to turn me off, because I knew he had a kinder side. Even his dueling was amazing. Well, _**especially** _his dueling. So unlike me… Crappy at dueling, crappy at my job, sucky at my love life. I was bawling, wailing at the top of my lungs in seconds. Thunder rolled again, coming with a flash of lightning. Tears streamed thickly down my face, muddling my too old glasses even further as I plopped down hard on the couch and cried. A few moments into my crying jag, I eeeped as thunder boomed again, coming with a disturbingly near and glaringly loud "CRACK!" Whimpering, I curled into a ball around my Fortune Fairy deck, safely ensconced in my orange fanny pack. That was when I remembered I had left my laptop, my prized possession, in my car.

"CRAAAAAAP!"

I stood up, rubbing the tears from my eyes. Scrabbling to the door, I pushed it open with some effort and got out the apartment door, the door smacking shut with a gust of wind. I battled to the car, unlocking the trunk and fishing out my laptop's (waterproofed, a gift from Jack) bag. When I turned around, my eyes widened as I saw something I hadn't seen in five years. And a sight I also pray I will NEVER have to see again.

A beat up, very familiar white and purple Duel Runner was rolling uncharacteristically slowly toward my apartment. A tall, slouched figure rode astride of it. I screamed in shock when I saw said tall, familiar figure slide from the Duel Runner and land on the pavement. I ran over, ignoring the rain as my throat clogged in shock and horror. Jack Atlas lay prone on the pavement, blood trickling from under his cracked duel helmet and from several nasty gashes to his face. His blond hair, what I could see of it, was caked in mud and blood. Jack's white jacketed arms were crooked at odd angles, his face white and his eyes, those beautiful ameythyst eyes, were closed. He was far too still for my liking.

A chill of fear stabbed through me. What if he never opened his eyes again? What if... What if Jack was...**_dead?_**

**Hi! This is my first YuGiOh 5Ds story, so don't shoot me if Carly is OOC (out of charecter) or anything. Jack keeps up correspondence with Carly even as he travels the world dueling because he wants to feel a link to home more than just Crow and Yusei, so they aren't an official couple yet. Jack's pride wouldn't allow it. ^^ Yes I know the title is corny, to those of you who know the musical with the same name. It's a spurr of the moment thing, which I will finish on my computer even if I don't post it. Review to tell me whether or not I should continue this, or it bores you. Or whateer. Just review my story please! ^^ I know I left a slight cliffie, I'm just evil like that.**

_**-June**_


	2. Chapter 2 Worry and Memories

Carly Carmine X Jack Atlas

(in other words, The Reporter and The King of Games)

Chapter Two

I sighed softly as I re arranged the compress on Jack's forehead for the umpteenth time. I was so worried about him… What in the world had happened to leave him like this? Obviously not a Duel Runner crash, as the Phoenix Whirlwind was still quite intact, parked in a friendly neighbor's rented garage. Ms. Wilson had a tendency of not asking too many questions, so when I was pushing Jack Atlas' Duel Runner over to her building and then came up to ask her if I could borrow her garage to hide it in, it was no biggie for her. Although she had looked quite curious, the kind older lady had merely given me an umbrella (I STILL hadn't managed to remember mine) to borrow on the walk home. Her slender, slightly stooped white haired form watched me worridly as I made my way back.

First thing when I had gotten Jack inside, however, was to bandage his wounds. This I had done gently, carefully keeping my fan girl urges in check to check for wounds on my hero. I had done the best I could with my rather extensive medical kit, a gift from Yusei. He knew my tendency to bump into door frames, trip on flat ground, get doors smacked into my face and assorted other embarrassing klutz-ups. Being the sweetheart he is, he'd given me the first aid kit as a gift one year for my birthday.

I shook my head to get my ADHD mind (I swear I do have this, even though I never tested positive for it) off the subject of Yusei and back onto the topic laying right in front of me. Jack. Wounded by someone I didn't know about and probably never would. Jack wasn't the type to open up. Not even to me. I shook my head. What was I saying? I wasn't his girlfriend, no matter how much I'd fantasized about that very thing.

Just a friend.

Who was now very worried that Jack might not make it through the night. I mean, with my klutziness, I had plenty of experience with medical treatment. I could at least bandage his cuts properly and do my best to ease as many bruises as I could find. I had no idea how to tell if wounds had gotten infected, though none of his were obviously infected (i.e. oozing yucky stuff). I also knew he wouldn't last long in soaked clothes without becoming sick. I had already slipped off his dueling jacket and his badly torn shirt, switching out his shirt with a spare I had found in his duel runner. Apparently Jack had been using it for transport for a while now, as evidenced by several very dirty changes of clothes and this one clean one in the bags fastened to the side of the Phoenix Whirlwind, Jack's duel runner. He looked thinner than I'd last seen him, taller too. Well, we had both grown up some. Last I remembered, Jack had turned twenty five. I was twenty three, two years younger. I couldn't resist a squeak of fan girl excitement when I had bared his chest, so I decided to get it over with quick before I ended up with a nosebleed. Or worse, I passed out. I started to remove his shirt, holding my breath.

I jumped when I felt him stirr faintly. Blurry, heartbreakingly fuzzy violet eyes opened. They were unfocused, drifting for a moment untill they settled on me. A flash of surprise flew through Jack's blurred eyes. I could barely breathe with how much his dazed, haunted eyes made my heart ache. His arm shaking, he reached for me with an... almost desperate look in his eyes. If I hadn't known Jack Atlas better, I would have said he was terrified. I was frozen for a moment, and then I caught his hand. Guiding the too thin male hand to where it had been reaching for, I cuddled his hand to my cheek. His fingers weakly brushed my glasses. A ghost of a smile crossed Jack's lips as he splayed his frighteningly cold hand on my cheek. His eyes fluttered shut a moment later. I stayed like that a moment, frozen by the contact with my crush of several years. When I snapped out of it, I gently took his hand in both of mine and laid it down on my couch (which folded out into a bed, thankfully).

Getting back to buisness, I then sponged away the blood and bandaged the cuts on his chest. As always with Jack around, I seemed to have gotten a burst of extra energy. Tending his wounds and cleaning him up was no problem when, on the ride home, I'd seriously been considering skipping dinner. Too much hassle on my tired self. I carefully drew the cleanest set of clothes he'd packed over the bandages, and then considered his pants rather unhappily. I didn't want to…to….

_Expose all that yumminess. I think I'd faint…_

My cheeks flamed at the uncharacteristically naughty thought, punctuated by a crash of thunder.

"Ooooooh! Stop thinking that, Carly!"

I smacked my cheeks scoldingly. But I knew I could never muster up the courage to do this particular act; I was too scared. What if Jack woke up? He'd (almost, he wasn't really alert) woken up when I was taking off his shirt...My cheeks flamed bright red at the idea. I took and released a deep breath for concentration. I needed to make sure Jack wouldn't get sick in the night. I ferreted out one of my best towels, using it to dry his legs as much as I dared. Then, I looked for a blanket. I found several, and tucked all of them around Jack. Smoothing the creases out tenderly, I was seized by an impulse to kiss him. Which I squished immeidiately, of course.

He had never looked so vulnerable to me... Asleep and wounded. The clean black shirt was a sharp contrast to the bone pallor of Jack's skin and the clean white bandages peeping out from under it. He had so many cuts...bruises, too. When I had taken off his Duel Runner helmet, having to use warm water to do so without eliciting a sharp jerk of pain from it's still unconscious owner, dried blood thickly crusting a long gash on the back of Jack's head was revealed. _NO! Oh god no Jack... Jack... What happened to you since my last letter? _A sharp gasp of fear and shock escaped me. Gritting my teeth, I did my best to clean the long wound and clumsily bandaged it. Tears of worry and confusion blurred my eyes again. Sniffling, I took my glasses off to wipe my eyes. Cleaning them on my shirt, I put them back on, oblivious to the storm noise by now and having completely forgotten my own wet clothes. I sighed, gazing at Jack from where I knelt next to the couch.

It wasn't right to see a King so vulnerable. So laid bare and haunted. I shuddered as I remembered his eyes. Ghosts of memory flitted there, ghosts I might never know about. Ghosts that darkly resembled the pains from my own street past. Shaking my head, I took Jack's hand again. I wouldn't leave his side for a minute. The way he looked when he saw me... He was so happy. At least, that's what I think it was. Maybe he was just relieved to see me. Or delirious. The one who could be counted on to be there for him through fair winds and foul ones. I smiled faintly at the idea. Carly Carmine, the faithful dog reporter of Jack Atlas. My cheeks reddened, but I laughed. Loud and hard and sudden, leaving me shaking after it had run out. My own hands shuddery, I reached for and grasped Jack's hand in both of mine, concentrating on warming it in my own. That didn't stop the tide of memories flooding my mind of my birth home and life.

* * *

_Flashback_

_I tried to smile as Dad opened the door for me into Mom's room. The smell of sickness hit me first, the smell of medicine masking the smell of rot and loneliness pervading the slums of Neo Domino. Loneliness was a feeling I knew well... Dad silently padded down the hall to make dinner. Daddy was always quiet like that. He never tripped or fell either. I walked in, tripping but catching myself. A thin white hand was all I could see of my mother; I was still short enough to barely be able to see over the bed Mom lay in. I never knew a time when Mom wasn't sick, when Dad didn't have steep bills to pay or when I really got enough to eat... I was always saving something to bring home to Mom, or to give her for absolutely no reason at all. I knew it made her feel better when I brought her things from outside and told her about my day; that is, if she was having a relatively good day at first. On the bad days, I never got to be around Mom because she didn't want me to see her on her bad days. Back then, all I knew about it was that Mom stayed in her room all the time and smiled more often when I did too. _

_"Mommy, are you feeling any better today?"_

_"A little. Come here, Carly. Can you climb up on the bed?"_

_I obeidiantly climbed up on the small twin bed with the tattered comforter my mother lay on, squeaking crossly when I fell on my butt twice. Mom smiled happily when I finally made it up there. I beamed back at her, our grins nearly identical. I had inherited my mother's looks: straight-ish black hair, starry grey eyes that looked too big for my face, pale skin and slender bone structure. While I still had my baby fat at the time, Mom was far skinnier. She weighed less than what I probably weighed now back then. Later, however, I learned I had also inherited my Dad's bad eyesight._

_"Can we have story time today, Mommy?"_

_"Yes, lovey, fetch the story book from my bookshelf. Your father put it on the lower shelf just so you can reach it."_

_"Yay!" I cheered, scrambling off the bed and tripping the minute I started toward the bookcase. Even though my nose hurt from the fall, I refused to show it._

_"C-Carly? Are you alright? I heard a thump..." Mom had bad eyesight too, even before the illness Dad said, so I guess I had a double dose of that particular gene. Even after years battling the illness, Mom's hearing was still really sharp._

_"I'm okay Mom!" I grinned convincingly up at her from my sitting position. When I heard the answering weak chuckle that meant my Mom had heard my reassurance, I stood back up and scrambled over to our steel bookshelf. Dad had found it just before it went to the Satellite; it had still been in good condition, with only a few bad rust spots. His employer, Mr. Higurashi, had let him take it home for us. Mom and I loved books, so Mom was especially happy when Daddy brought the book shelf home from his work as a junk collector. He collected the junk and sent it off to the Satellite for them to sort. So he sometimes found stuff that wasn't as bad that it would be useless, and Mr. Higurashi let him bring it home for us._

_The Story Book was Mom's prized posession. It was a leather bound book, the cover embellished with fanciful Egyptian symbols and the edges of each page tooled in tarnished gold leaf, lovingly dog eared through many years of use in the Carmine family. It was filled with what seemed like millions of stories that Mom loved to hear me read from. When I was too little to read it, Mom would read to me. But now that her illness had progressed some, her eyes had gotten worse. So, to make her happy, I volunteered to read to her from it. And that was how it had been for a year now, me doing my best in school and coming home to read to Mom. I loved telling those tales of high adventure, of a united Domino City and the adventures of a boy and his freinds fighting against an ancient evil. Mom sometimes fell asleep halfway through; when that happened, I crept out mouse quiet, still smiling and happpy because Mom had fallen asleep with a smile on her face. _

_I scrambled up onto the bed again, the large book under my arm. I was proudly smiling; I had managed to get up without one time of falling off the bed onto my butt with the StoryBook under my arm. Sitting cross legged on the side of the bed Mom had made room for me on, I opened the book to the table of contents._

_"What story shall I read today Mom?"_

_"Mmm... Let's see... How about the duel between Joey and Yuugi?"_

_"Okay!"_

_And then I started to read._

* * *

I came out of the memories when Jack growled in his sleep. Cuddling his hand to my cheek, I worked on soothing his restless sleep. Once he had calmed, I felt a wave of drowsiness wash over me. It had been a long day for little ol' me. Still clutching Jack's hand, I allowed myself to get drowsier and drowsier.

I fell asleep like that, laying on the wood floor clutching Jack's somewhat warmer hand.

* * *

**Hey! I know, fast update ^^ I won't be able to update like this again soon, however. What do you think of the glimpse into Carly's past? In canon, it was implied that she had a past she'd never go back to. Please alert me to any spelling or grammar mistakes so that I can fix them, because I updated a little sloppily on the site instead of on my Word program. I just couldn't resist! I love it when people review ^^ Thank you to Magdalene Thorne, NameKendra, HK and DancingQueen21 for reviewing. I'm so glad to be helping to revive these two charecters! :) Carly and Jack deserve a chance! Critique my chapter as you wish ^^**

**-June **


	3. Chapter 3 Sick Carly and Delirious Jack

Carly Carmine X Jack Atlas (in other words, The Reporter and The King of Games)

Chapter Three: Sick Carly and Delirious Jack

I woke up stiff and sore. Repressing a cough, I peeked back over the couch bed. Jack hadn't stirred in the night, upping my worry about his condition considerably. He still lay there, pale and inert. Had I done enough to help him? My head felt achy and tired even after the right amount of hours of sleep. I think. Wearily uncurling from my position on the floor, I stood stiffly. The tickle in my throat was bearable, for now. Silently, sleepily, I glanced at my wall clock.

"EEEEEEEEYAAAAAAA!"

It was ten o'clock! Rathbone would surely fire me if I didn't get an excuse in soon! I panickedly fumbled for the cell phone I owned, an old model I had paid for at least four years ago and the thing, miraculously, still worked normally. Wailing in panic, I scrabbled through my whole apartment looking for the thing and then, moments away from meltdown mode, realized I'd left it in my current jacket pocket. With a groan at my bad luck, I flipped open the phone and dialed the station. Wincing, I resisted a sudden urge to throw up as it rang.

" 'Yello?"

I let go with a spate of coughing the moment I heard Rina on the phone. When I recovered, I said, "Rina, thank fortune it's you answering. I think I've gone and caught a cold... Or maybe the flu. I won't know until I go to the doctor, and checking with the doctor could take a long time, and I am SOOO sorry I didn't come in on time, Rina, but I had an unexpected visitor last night and and and-"

"You need me to cover for you, right?" Rina asked, interrupting me mid panicked babble. I sighed, sniffling. I had been near meltdown mode, but as always, Rina managed to stem my freak outs.

"Yes please."

"Alright Carly-chan. You know I've always got your back," Rina said soothingly.

"That's the only reason I've kept my job. Thank you," I sighed in relief.

"No prob. You helped me when I was new on the beat, so this is the least I can do. Get some rest and get over that bug, Carly-chan. And let that visitor take care of you if it gets bad enough. They deserve it for surprising you," Rina said in her best mothering voice.

I sighed._ Well know, Rina, I can't exactly tell you Jack Atlas, my crush of FOREVER, is in my apartment AND injured. Even you would never believe me…_ Rina Roxdell, a svelte redhead and the newest favorite of my boss, had been a tall, gangly girl barely out of high school when she had started at our news station three years ago. She had been lost and confused when she entered my office, but I was happy to direct her where she needed to go. Rina didn't do too well with directions, easily getting lost, but she seems to A) get the best scoops or B) Rathbone tended to be lenient on her. Mostly because the girl was his niece, and she threatened to quit, which would really make her parents mad at Rathbone for some reason. Sometimes, only Rina's timely intervention saved me from losing my job.

"Yes, Rina-chan, I'll make sure to rest."

"Good. See you soon."

"Let's hope so. Bye Rina."

I hung up after Rina did. _Maybe I do have that bug I told Rina I had…._, I thought as I gingerly rubbed my increasingly sore throat. That wouldn't be good news if I needed to look after Jack. I didn't know who I could call for help… Not the Signers, I had no idea whether or not Jack was running from them or somebody else. Speaking of which, I walked back into the living room to check on Jack. He had shifted some in his sleep, turning onto his side. A faint moaning mutter came from his general direction. I crept warily over to him, trying not to wake him up if he was just dreaming. I really really didn't want to wake him up now. Not when I might possibly be sick.

Nope. Definitely a nightmare. I winced at the expression on Jack's face. _That look is all too familiar, _I mused mentally, remembering my own experiences with nightmares. Mostly involving my Mom's death. Shaking my head to clear it, I gently took ahold of Jack's lean, muscled shoulder and shook it.

"Jack. Jack, wake up. It's only a nightmare… Wake up."

"MmmmF~!...Leave me alone you fuckers!... Leave me~!... Stop….. Don't touch…. Don't you DARE," Jack bellowed the last word, suddenly struggling to break free of the blankets I had tucked around him last night.

I eeeped, backing up as Jack thrashed. I realized immediately that I had to get in there, or Jack might really hurt himself worse with all that struggling. I looked for a chance, spotted it and dived in, doing my best to pin Jack down. But he was bigger than me, and stronger in the grip of his nightmare. With a jerk, he lashed a fist out at me, catching my glasses and brutally tearing them off my nose. I squealed in pain, but managed to pin down each of his flailing hands and hold them in my own. Jack's body kept on jerking, however, his legs kicking at shadows as he yelled curses at some hallucinatory attacker.

"Jack! Jack, it's me! It's Carly! Carly Carmine! Jack oh please please please wake up," I was sobbing breathlessly, coughing every once in a while as I held his wrists behind his back.

Oddly, Jack stilled as he finally heard my voice over his own screaming. His tense body relaxed, going strangely limp in my arms. His harsh, rough breathing slowly evened out as I continued to talk to him, mostly nonsense babble by now. I was shaking in exhaustion already, left tired, dizzy, confused and thoroughly shaken by this unusual outburst from Jack. A ghost of a smile crossed his lips as I let his hands loose from their previous position. Jack then did something extremely unexpected.

Almost innocent vivid purple eyes opened, gazing blankly into mine for a heart-stopping moment from his position in my lap. A childlike smile came over his face, but not one iota of recognition. Jack turned over, laying on top of me now, and buried his face in my stomach area. He then sighed contentedly, nuzzling his face as close as he could to my body. I fell backwards in surprise, smacking my head on the edge of the fold out bed (which was thankfully padded). Done with that cuddling after the jolt of me switching positions, Jack wrapped his still bandaged arms around my waist, mumbling raspily, "Smells nice…Safe here…So sleepy…. No more bad ones around… Sleepy…Mmmm…."

Pillowing his cheek on my stomach, he promptly dozed off, still clutching me around the waist. My head was spinning as I realized _Jack had no memory of me_. _He didn't even say my name…. But at least he feels sssafe with me, right? Right?_ My thoughts were getting more and more detached as I felt a heat haze creep over everything. Maybe it was fangirling over the fact Jack Atlas actually cuddling me, or maybe it was the fever setting in.

I passed out ten seconds later.

* * *

_Ms. Wilson's POV_

_I knew something was wrong when I heard distinctly male screams emanating from that poor child's apartment. Our apartment walls were thin enough to hear regular talking on quiet city nights, which were rare. So, even when the traffic was bad, I could still hear those frantic, haunted shrieks that no man should ever make. I hustled it over there as fast as my aged feet would take me._

_I opened her door with the spare key the child had given me; she was forever losing her key only to find she'd locked it in her car, along with the car key. So, to prevent anything like that happening again, she had given me a spare to her unit. Poor Carly. Such a magnet for bad luck. I opened the door, and found quite a scene before me. Carly was unconscious on her couch, face still beet red. A tall blonde boy was snuggled into her lap, breathing peacefully in sleep. The apartment was also a mess, far worse than it's usual disordered state. Apparently Carly had been tearing up the place to find something. I walked over to Carly, intending to check on her._

_The white-skinned boy snapped up, apparently sensing me even in his sleep, startling violet eyes glaring wrathfully at me. When I tried to move around him to check carly, the blonde boy snapped his teeth at me as a wounded animal might. Fear, hatred and distrust was stamped in his eyes, along with an odd edge of protectiveness. I quickly realized he thought I would hurt Carly. I froze, keeping both hands where he could see them to show I held no weopen. Jack Atlas' (if this was really him) eyes dimmed slowly as an eternity passed with me holding absolutely still. Sleepily, he blinked and returned to his original position: cuddled into Carly. I touched Carly's forehead cautiously, hoping the blonde boy wouldn't get angry again. Drat. The girl's skin was burning up with fever. _

_ Oh dear. This was definitely going to be trouble. _

* * *

**What do you think? I know I said I wouldn't be able to update soon, but a frenzy kind of seized me and I had to post. ^^' heheh... Anyway, what do you think of Ms. Wilson? How did I do a protective and half-loopy Jack? I love hearing your opinions! Please leave a review. **


	4. Chapter 4 Checking the Damage

Carly Carmine X Jack Atlas (in other words, The Reporter and The King of Games)

Chapter Four: Waking Up and Taking in the Damage

I woke groggily to the smell of food. Someone was cooking in my kitchen, and the weight of Jack's sleeping form was off of me. I panicked, sitting up far too fast and moaning in pain as my head spun in protest. My eyes, oddly, were blurry. _Where are my glasses?! My glasses!_ Then I remembered how Jack had slammed them off in his nightmare state. Shuddering at the non-too-happy memory, I began to blindly paw for my glasses. Without them, I could barely see. Contacts didn't work mostly because I didn't have the money to pay for them, let alone the paitence to put them in without possibly poking my eye out. A hand, bigger than my own, took mine and placed what felt like my glasses into my hand.

"Hey. Are these what you're looking for, Carly?"

A familiar voice, sans its Australian accent, surprised me. When I had been frozen for about five minutes in flusterment, I heard an all too familiar irritated, impatient snort as someone took my glasses right back. Then, male hands were slipping my glasses over my face, hooking the ear pieces where they were supposed to go and briefly adjusting where the nosepiece went so it would fit my face properly. When the world came into focus, I saw a changed Jack Atlas sitting in front of me. No longer were his eyes like amethyst barriers, barring the knowledge of his thoughts from anyone who didn't know him. They openly showed a flicker of concern when I didn't respond after a few seconds with my glasses on. Other than this and the fact he'd changed pants, Jack looked the same physically. Still, the eys was a shocking enough change to the man I cared so deeply for.

"Are you okay Carly?"

"Y-you remember my name?"

Jack frowned, "Of course I do. Ms. Wilson only told me a day ago when I woke up. I don't forget THAT easily…" He seemed to be sulking slightly as he said this.

"Do you remember Yusei?"

Jack gave me a puzzled look.

"Crow? Yusei? Akiza? The Signers? The Crimson Dragon? Martha, your foster Mom?"

"No… What are you talking about, Carly?"

I very nearly fainted. Jack didn't remember a thing. Not even how we met. What we'd shared. He didn't remember that he had saved the world with his friends and brothers. That, in a nutshell, he had saved me from an eternity as a Dark Signer. I remembered nothing about that time but what Akiza had told me; I had been a Dark Signer, Jack had dueled me and won, thus freeing me from the Darkness' control. _WAAAAH! Why meeee? Wait. Jack MUST remember Dueling... It was such a part of him that he COULDN'T have forgotten it... Could he? _

"Oh man. . . Do you remember Duel Monsters?"

Jack's eyes lit up at that one and I hoped I'd struck memory gold.

"I was watching a Duel Runner match on your TV earlier…. Man, I wish I could duel…"

_Kyaaaaaaaaaaaah! He doesn't remember dueliiiiing?! He doesn't remember Red Dragon Archfiend? He doesn't remember anythiiiing?! EEEEEEEEEYAAAA I CAN'T DEAL WITH THIIIIIIIS! Whyyyyy meeeeee?! Why not Yusei? Why did Jack come to MY apartment of all places…. Why didn't he go to one of the other Signers, anyone but poor little me…._

"Are you okay Carly?"

I realized I had been staring, grinning fixedly at the wall while my mind freaked out. Blushing, I sputtered, "Y-yeah, Jack. I'm okay."

"Oh good. Do you want some of the cup ramen Ms. Wilson fixed? She can help make another cup, if you want."

This was too weird. That open grin on Jack's face, his invitation for ramen, the very fact that Ms. Wilson was in my HOUSE….. Oyyyy… My head ached with the implications. I gingerly rubbed my head and swung my legs around to the floor. Jack grinned beside me. Which was when I realized I was in my bed, in my room.

"How did I get here?"

"I carried you when Ms. Wilson asked me to. You were pretty sick and she said you'd recover better in your room. And you did."

"Wait, I was sick?"

"Ms. Wilson said it was a cold. You were asleep for two days. We took care of you so you wouldn't get sicker," Jack said, that unfamiliar undercurrent of concern there.

"Uh-oh… Has someone called Rina Roxdell called my phone?"

"Nope."

Good. Rina must still be able to cover for me.

"Then I think I'd like to have some ramen." I got up, realizing I had been changed to a fresh pair of pjs at some point. Hopefully it had been Ms. Wilson doing the changing…. I blushed hotly when I realized the pjs were pink and had teddy bears printed all over them. Jack didn't seem to be fazed at all, however. No doubt he'd already seen them for the two days I was out.

"After I change clothes. I can't go out in my pjs."

When Jack simply sat there, still watching me, I blushed bright pink. Apparently he hadn't gotten the hint.

"Could you please get out of my room?"

"Why?"

I reddened in embarrassment, "Because I can't change clothes with a boy watching!"

"Why?"

The blatant curiosity in that question made my face flame hotter. My voice squeaked as I said, "Because I said so! Now please scoot!"

"Alright, alright, I'm going…"

Jack stood, and slipped out the door of my small bedroom. With a sigh, I closed the door behind him. I ferreted out a clean pair of pants and my favorite blue striped shirt. Yanking off my pjs, I switched outfits, finding my favorite orange vest easily for once. Grinning, I tugged it on and ran a brush through my coarse mane of black hair. Now presentable, I went out of my room to see Jack sitting at my battered kitchen table, eagerly eating out of a cup of ramen. I tried to suppress a giggle; the childish glee in his eyes as he ate the ramen was just so silly…

Jack then paused, blinking. He looked like he was remembering something, because he frowned and glared at the wall, as if he wanted to hit someone in that direction who wasn't really there. I grinned in relief; Ms. Wilson's quick thinking with the ramen must be starting to bring back memories for Jack. Hopefully, anyway.

"Carly. Hello, young 'un, I hope I'm not intruding," Ms. Wilson's wrinkled face appeared with another cup of steaming hot cup ramen, offering it to me.

"Oh, no, you've been so helpful, I've heard from Jack," I sputtered, blushing at the old woman's kindness. Taking the piping hot ramen, I realized it wasn't mine. Tears welled in my eyes as I thought, _She's helping me like this and we barely talk to one another. I would talk to her more, but I'm always looking for scoops…_ I resolved there and then to spend more time with Ms. Wilson, especially when this whole business of Jack losing his memory was over.

"Oh, it's nothing Carly. You've been a granddaughter to me in more ways than one since you started living here," Ms. Wilson said, chuckling and waving away my apologies.

"Th-thanks-"

"Carly, you've got to try the ramen! It's great!" Jack sounded a little ticked I wasn't paying attention to him.

I giggled, "Alright, alright Jack. I'm sitting down to try the ramen."

Casting a grateful glance at Ms. Wilson, I moved to the table, sitting down with the cup ramen. Thankfully, I didn't stumble once as I went. I smiled as I cracked open the lid of the ramen, inhaling the aroma of my favorite flavor of ramen (shrimp).

"Ohhhhh, yummy! I haven't had this stuff in years!" I squealed truthfully, beaming at Ms. Wilson.

"I knew you liked ramen, and my daughter sends me cases of it for every special occasion. I've told Wynona that I don't like the stuff, but she doesn't seem to want to listen. Do you think you could take the ramen off my hands Carly?"

I nodded, beaming. Ms. Wilson chuckled, "I'll take that as a yes then, Carly."

I smiled, digging into my ramen hungrily. _Who knew being sick could make you so hungry? I sure didn't._

* * *

_**Jack's POV**_

I watched her on the sly, glancing at her when she didn't notice. Carly Carmine. Memories, faint and indistinct, flickered in my head at the mention of her name. Even as the memories faded again, I liked to watch her. The swing of her hair when she walked, the silly grin she'd get when someone made her happy and the fierce blushing she'd always be doing if I was nearby. I'd already noticed all of these things about her in the short time she had been awake. Ms. Wilson had explained to me about my situation, my lost memories and Carly being very important to me before my memories became lost. She didn't know how it had happened, but she said Carly could help, if I let her. Whatever that meant. Unknown to Ms. Wilson, I had watched Carly asleep. Her hair was always in disarray, and she never snored. Not like some of my other previous roommates.

The roommates' faces who I still couldn't quite remember. But I did remember an irritating little orange headed boy trying to steal my cup ramen. And then a black haired boy who told both me and the orange headed boy off. We'd been friends since that day. But that was my clearest memory, besides the memories I'd made watching Carly. Maybe she **would** help regain my memories. Because I knew I had lost them for sure when she had freaked out so much over me not knowing the answers to her questions.

What distracted me was the TV turning on when Ms. Wilson accidentally sat something on the small remote. I had finished my ramen a while ago, and the familiar music came on that preceded a Duel Runner match.

In seconds, I was glued to the TV screen watching the duel.

* * *

_**Carly's POV**_

I giggled softly at the speed with which Jack had glued himself to the TV the second the Duel Runner match came on. Ms. Wilson shook her head fondly, getting out her large red handbag. She plucked out some golden colored yarn and sat down on the couch. With two blue knitting needles decorated with lighter blue swirls, she started to knit. I smiled as I trashed the finished cup of cup ramen.

However, I tripped on the way to the couch to sit by Ms. Wilson and would have fallen on my face. If Jack hadn't caught me at that point.

"Watch where you're stepping Carly! You could've hurt yourself," Jack scolded, looking oddly upset.

"S-s-sorry Jack…"

"No need to be sorry, just sit down here and watch with me."

_Squeeeee!_ With a grin, I sat down beside Jack's spot on the floor. My fortunes were CERTAINLY looking up. I spent most, if not all of the duel watching Jack rather than the duelists...

* * *

**So, what do you think of my update? How is my childish Jack doing? Carly is dealing well, all things considered. Ms. Wilson will be important later on... Very important. What do you think of this chapter? Is it too fluffy or angsty? Please leave a review!**

** I know this is short, but I can't help it because this seemed like THE place to end... I probably won't be able to update this soon again for a long time. So, happy Thanksgiving for those of you who celebrate it! Thank you Xerxes Glace Hydro, Magdalene Thorne, DancingQueen21, Guest and HK for reviewing my little fic! Please leave a review as you read this latest update ^^**

**-June**


	5. Chapter 5 A Scream in the Night

Carly Carmine X Jack Atlas (in other words, The Reporter and The King of Games)

Chapter Five: A Scream in the Night

I was wakened out of a peaceful night's sleep by a wild scream. It had been a week since Jack arrived and no such thing had occurred earlier. _What in the world was going on?_ I couldn't help but wonder. I scrambled out of bed only to realize I was missing my glasses when I slammed face first into the floor. Moaning in pain and covering my ears to the horribly loud and real screams, I scrambled for my glasses until I found them, scraping my knee and banging my shin in my panicked fumbling. I stood quickly, righting my wobbling some with a bit of time. Stumbling dazedly out of my bedroom in my pink pjs, the ones printed with toy cameras, my eyes widened as a sight that I pray I never have to see again met my eyes. It scared me right down to my core.

Jack was thrashing, howling and snarling at imaginary assailants. The scary thing was his eyes were OPEN and he was standing up with the bed sheets twisted around his nearly bare body. But they weren't the eyes I knew.

Widened by fear and twisted by hate, these amethyst eyes were utterly alien to me. Smoke and fear scent saturated the whole room as Jack clawed at his imaginary attacker. Fires of all sizes were starting all around the room was what clicked a moment later. I started to panic ever so slightly and ran for the sink to get water. Anything to douse what I was seeing. My hands shook as I dropped the bowl in the sink. Terror filled memories flashed in front of my eyes with the speed of a camera flash. A burning house, a burning room, full to the brim with glittering voracious flames devouring everything in sight. A screaming child, begging her father to go back and save her mother. A baby's terrified wails as a fire claimed it. The faces illuminated by firelight, dripping tears for loved ones departed. The screams of the trapped as they perished in the greedy flames filled my ears. What ripped me out of the horrifying memories of "stories" I had covered was a wild scream from Jack. A sound I had never thought to hear from Jack, it was high and keening.

Inhuman.

I remembered the fire at hand finally. I filled one of my biggest bowls with water and ran to dump it over the biggest patch of glittering flames. I wailed in shock when the freezing water splashed over my bare toes and didn't do a lick of good to put out the fires. My heart pounding, I stared around the room, which was beginning to fill with the unquenchable flames.

"Jack! J-J-Jack! We have to get out of here," I wailed pleadingly, grabbing his flailing arm. I was greeted by a snarl and flung off his arm into a wall, landing funny. I felt my head smack into the wall, but I didn't fall unconscious even with the shooting pains in my arm nearly crippling me. Instead, I stood up, my arm hanging at an odd angle. The fist of the arm clenched as I felt something dark and unexpectedly angry well up inside me. Of course, it demanded exit.

"JACK! LOOK AT ME, NOW!" I heard my voice roar.

* * *

**Jack's POV**

Shadows.

Shadowy, malicious gremlins were appearing everywhere, swarming me, wanting to kill me, wanting me to follow them into the darkness. Into the madness.

I would not go! This is MY LIFE! I WILL NEVER SUMBIT! Fires blazed out of control all around me as I tried to hit out at the gremlins with the only weopen that I could use that actually hurt them the glittering fire of the dragon far above my head. Red Dragon Archfiend. I remembered that name. Flashes of memory washed through me. Duels. I was turbo dueling on a pure white Duel Runner. Winner. Master of all I surveyed. Sultan of Speed, Master of Faster and the King of the Riding Duel. . . I was all of those. Pride surged through me. _Why couldn't I remember if I was this cool? Wouldn't I remember if I Turbo Dueled, let alone this well? Who would erase the memories of someone this awesome?_

_NO! You are nothing! HE defeated you!_

More memories flashed through my head. A boy, about my age, with black hair and yellow streaks was glaring angrily at me, demanding something I couldn't quite hear. I recoiled angrily as words drifted from my mind.

Rival.

Bad. Need to beat him. Conquer him like he conquered me, SHAME HIM LIKE HE SHAMED ME! The maddened ranting continued in this vein as I almost looked on with conflicting emotions.

Some part of me yelled in horror at the idea, and another part… Got excited. Shame colored my cheeks. How could I be beaten by him? A boy like that defeat me, the invincible Jack Atlas? A boy from the Satellite….

A boy I had once called friend.

A boy I had betrayed for gain. More people I had turned my back on, stolen from, been so cruel to it made me hurt. All because I couldn't abandon my pride, my damnable pride... The miasma grew and grew and spun out of control. I was sinking, flailing, trying to get loose but failing miserably. The stinking, revolting muck of memory was dragging me down without mercy. I howled angrily, clawing upwards and trying, trying to save myself... But my efforts weren't enough.

They would never be enough.

A piercing noise made me pause in my mad struggle for survival. The mud, astonishingly, stopped sucking me down.

HER voice pierced through the haze of pain. Through the swamp of memory, her voice was a clear sunbeam. Her voice sounded angry and I inwardly cringed. What had I done to earn her ire? Carly was never angry at me…. My eyes gradually refocused upon her as the sound of her rapidly beating heart drew me out of the hell my memories had created especially for me.

* * *

**Carly's POV**

Jack stopped hitting at shadows, freezing and slowly turning to look at me. His amethyst eyes were wide and glassy as he stared at me. The fires died down as he stared at me in the long, tension fraught moments it took for him to register me really being there. Weak moonlight shone through the glass doors in the front wall of the living room. Memories fluttered at the back of my mind, of a time when Jack had looked at me with the same blank shock as he did right now. I remembered a darkness, a haze covering my mind, pain and death…. Death. Jack and I would be dead if those fires didn't stop soon! Then, I realized, the fires had indeed stopped. And I felt no pain in my arm any longer. I moved it, surprised to find it unbroken.

"C-Carly?"

I blinked, coming back to myself as I heard the tremor in Jack's voice. He was looking at me with wide, slightly scared eyes and trembling slightly. I walked over to him, easing him back onto the couch bed and sitting with him, pointedly ignoring the fact all he had on underneath the sheets was his boxers. I stiffened in surprise when I felt his body almost collapse into mine. I relaxed slowly, but was really startled when Jack wrapped his arms around my waist and buried his face in my chest. He was shaking like a leaf. My cheeks were red and I was trying to get out of the dazed state this move had put me in _he's hugging me he's hugging me and he's hugging me near my-! _ I shook my head to clear it. Not the time for fan girl nosebleeds. Too tired for fan girl nosebleeds. DEFINENTLY NOT THE TIME FOR GETTING EXCITED.

"Yes, Jack?"

"Scary. . . . Monsters were chasing me. . . Big ones. . ."

I tried to make sense of this, "What kind of monsters Jack?"

"I don't know! They were men sized but they looked like monsters. . . All twisted and ugly. . . Dark and cold feeling. . . Still feel cold. . . Brrr," Jack mumbled, nuzzling into me.

I stroked his blond hair, mussed from the nightmarish hallucinations. Still trembling, Jack looked for all the world like a scared kid. He glared fearfully around at the darkened room, causing flickers of the flame to flare up again. I realized, finally, that those fires were illusory. I mentally face palmed. Jack had made those fires because he was scared of the dark…. _Oh, Carly, you are such an idiot sometimes…._

"Jack."

A quiet sniff and then, "Yeah?"

"Are you scared of the dark?"

"NO!" Jack reddened and clutched me tighter. I smiled faintly. A definite indication of fear was vehement denial; at least, with Jack it was. I petted his hair to calm him down a bit, my own heart still pounding madly. I had figured out a day or two ago that something about me being near him soothed Jack, even when he was at his most upset. Ms. Wilson had been helping me out by keeping an eye on Jack on the rare days I was actually called into work this week. Mostly, I emailed my articles from home. And lucky that it was like that because just this week there had been several incidents with Jack that had involved attempted cooking accidents and some slips with my balcony. This new, memory-less Jack was just as accident prone as me!

"Just in case, then, do you want me to leave a light on in here?" I had a battery powered nightlight for just such an occasion. Don't ask what it's left over from.

"Y-Y-yes."

"Alright then," I murmered soothingly, heart finally calming to a more regular pace. I realized I was clutching Jack just as tightly as he was clinging to me, but some part of me refused to be embaressed by this nesscesity. _Jack needs me now_. A kind of serenity settled over me at the thought. I had always needed to be needed. Mother had needed me to smile for her. Other people needed me to make them laugh or smile. Others also needed me to document their success. To make them matter. I guess that's why I became a reporter, really. To see other people smile and bring the attention each and every smile deserved.

Stroking Jack's blond hair to soothe the rest of his and my severely frayed nerves, I slowly relaxed into the couch. I hoped that I could get Jack to actually sleep again. He seemed pretty sleepy now, relaxing his grip by fractions as he grew drowsy again. Jack was still clutching me like a favorite doll. Even so, serenity looked to be making a comeback for tonight.

Which abruptly ended when there was sharp, semi-panicked banging on the door of my apartment

* * *

**I'm sorry for updating with such a cliffie! ^^' I couldn't keep you waiting anymore. :) So how did the nightmare go? How did I play a feaful Jack? What do you think of the mysterious fires that Jack seems to be causing? Please review! And I am also sorry it's such a short update :( I haven't felt like typing lately because my Grandfather passed away November 28... I miss him alot :''( He was one of the people who encouraged my creativity. You reviewers also encourage me :) You guys are the reason I write. I like having freinds online ^^ And I also like posting. Well, I like fanfiction in general. Anyway, cutting off my rambling, please review! **

**Thank you to all my dedicated readers and reviewers for reading another chapter! And hopefully reviewing! :)**

**-June**


	6. Chapter 6 Discovery

Carly Carmine X Jack Atlas (in other words, The Reporter and The King of Games)

Chapter Six: Discovery

I looked up in surprise. _ Who in the world would want to visit me at… three in the morning?! _I tried to get up, but Jack was still glued to me. At the knocking his head had snapped up, and now he was clutching me to his chest and glaring at the poor door as if it had done something to him. I petted his head, trying to soothe him so he would finally let go of me. Fidgeting uncomfortably on the couch, I sighed and tried to wriggle loose. That only tightened Jack's grip, and he looked briefly at me with reproach in his eyes. That stopped my wriggling, but the knocking grew more insistent with every second that passed. I groaned.

"Jack… I need to see who it is…"

"Why? Anyone who needs in should have a key…."

I decided not to point out that he hadn't had a key when I rescued him. Poking holes in his story would only irritate him; this Jack was a terrible liar when I was around. It was easy enough to not poke holes when I was trying to repress a fan girl nosebleed at how cute Jack was when he was pouty. Shaking my head, I finally got myself loose from Jack's grip and stood up just as the door banged open.

A wild eyed Yusei stood in the doorway, shock in his eyes as he spotted my rumpled state and Jack looming menacingly behind me. Well, not menacing to me, but you get the idea… He was trying to be intimidating to someone he viewed as an intruder. He wasn't too intimidating when he was like this, but I could see shadows of the old Jack in his fierce, angry expression. Yusei, on the other hand, looked floored to see Jack here and glaring at him to boot. Shaking my head, I gathered my wits to speak.

"Y-Yusei? What are you doing here?"

"I was looking… Wait, how long has Jack been here?"

"O-o-only a week Yusei…"

"Why hasn't he called us then? Leo, Luna and the others have been worried sick…"

"Who's Leo? Who's Luna? And who are these others you're blathering on about?"

Yusei gave Jack a funny look, "What?"

"I don't even know you and here you come barging into Carly's house in the middle of the night! Get OUT!"

I flinched at Jack's volume level. Jack was looking like he'd rather hit Yusei, but was keeping his arms protectively around me instead. Yusei was obviously very confused by that reaction, judging by his expression.

He took a faltering step forward, and Jack's arms tightened around me. He then growled, actually growled, at Yusei, making the mechanic take an automatic step back. His blue eyes wide, Yusei fixed them on Jack searchingly. Almost pleadingly. It hurt to see Yusei looking like a lost little kid. Jack's arms tightened around me, and I squeaked with pain. _Ouch… He has a tight grip… Never thought I'd be on the receiving end though…_ Jack immediately loosened his grip, looking worriedly down at me.

* * *

**Yusei's POV**

Carly was in pain. Jack had always had a rather tight grip, and the concerned look in his eyes wasn't at all odd. Except for its use in these circumstances. Yusei had seen that concern in Jack's eyes many times when they were younger. Admittedly, it was usually followed up by Jack smacking the person who worried him upside the head and scolding them vigorously. Yusei remembered several incidents where he had been on the receiving end of that scolding from both Martha and Jack. However, Crow had gotten it far more often than Yusei. Especially when Crow got himself into duels he couldn't win- and subsequently lost.

The man standing there, clutching Carly protectively and glaring at him was oddly familiar, and yet completely different from the arrogant, headstrong duelist Yusei knew. He was actually showing emotion besides anger or irritation. That was strange for Jack.

Really strange.

Yusei was still having a hard time believing that Jack had forgotten everything in their shared childhood, that Jack had forgotten so many events that shaped and molded both of them into the duelists they were today. Yusei decided to test whether Jack had forgotten everything. He couldn't have forgotten his favorite card… Even if he had forgotten the guy he'd treated like a little brother at points and a real rival at others. The idea that Jack had forgotten him stung deeper than Yusei cared to admit. He resisted the urge to rub over his heart, where it felt like a barb had been thrown. It had struck home.

"Don't you remember me Jack? We grew up together… Don't you remember Red Archfiend Dragon? The Signers?"

* * *

**Carly's POV**

"No. I don't."

I could tell from Jack's tone that he was getting unsure. _Phew. At least he has some inkling of who Yusei is… Thank God for small favors…_

"Don't you remember Crow? Small redheaded kid, you guys used to argue a lot… You don't even remember me?"

"Wait… Kind of… Argh! It's all foggy okay?! Go away and leave me and Carly alone! I want to stay with her!"

Yusei blinked rapidly, a sign of confusion from the mechanic. I was a little flustered myself as Jack clutched me tighter. He was behaving like a child who didn't want his favorite toy taken away…. _Yeesh. I love this and all, but will Jack ever grow up? Will he ever remember who and what I am? Ooops. Got to talk these two through this. They've got to be a little volatile; after all, both of them got a big surprise just a few minutes ago…_

"Jack, let me go and sit down. You too Yusei. I've got a lot of explaining to do…"

Both boys obeyed, still staring at each other. Yusei picked a kitchen chair and sat down facing us. He still looked a little dazed. Jack plunked down on the edge of the fold out bed he'd been sleeping in these past few days-pulling me into his lap. _Again, I seem to be a security blanket for him… Oh well. It's nice to be needed…_ I sighed nervously. You could cut the air with a knife, and the silence wasn't helping much.

Jack's frame was tense and his grip tight, but he at least tried to watch his grip. He glared at Yusei grumpily- and I couldn't really blame him. Yusei had barged in and interrupted the happiest days of my life. Our lives. I winced as I felt a stabbing pain in the back of my mind. Darkness spilled out as I closed my eyes, doubling over as it felt like nails were being driven through my head. I had been having these headaches off and on, probably caused by stress, but I had never felt it hit as badly as it hit now. Arching backward into Jack involuntarily, I started to hear screaming in my head. _Nononooo…. What's happening?_

"Carly!"

Yusei tried to get closer to ascertain what was wrong, but Jack went wild with fury. Letting me loose in favor of attacking, I heard a wild howl from him.

"GET AWAY FROM HER!"

I whimpered as, through my pain, I realized Jack was attacking Yusei. Crashing and angry, unidentified yells were beard as the two of them tore up my apartment in their fistfight. Focusing with an effort, I stuffed the dark feelings back into the back of my mind. Straightening my glasses, I yelped when I saw them actually fighting. Flying fists slammed into faces, long limbs kicking out to catch on heads and elbows. They also caught on various things, sending them flying.

_Oh man am I lucky that I don't have much breakable stuff around since I'm such a klutz I'd end up breaking it anyway… I still can't believe their fighting though… In my apartment…._ Tears beaded in my eyes as I gathered my wits and voice. _I have to stop them! This isn't supposed to happen! All wrong… This is all wrong… These two men are brothers… Brothers really don't try to kill each other! _

"STOP IT!"

Both boys froze in what they were doing, and then reluctantly untangling themselves. I was actually crying, my thick glasses getting blurry from the amount of liquid leaking out of my eyes. Jack's eyes were wide and shocked, like I'd really thrown him for a loop with the tears. Well, he didn't remember ever seeing me cry, so that made a sort of sense.

He warily tried to come closer, but I slapped his hand away-too upset to tolerate cuddling. Jack actually looked hurt, with a sprinkling of confusion in his face. Yusei was looking concerned and a little upset with himself. _Good. You should be upset. You just got into a fistfight with Jack! _My fist clenching around a pillow, I slowly tried to catch my breath as frustration rose within me. Without thinking, I bopped both of them upside the head with the pillow before starting on my tirade.

"Don't f-f-fight anymore! Just stoppit! I can't stand it when you two fight! I've never seen you even get into a fistfight before Y-y-Yusei! Why now? Why with Jack?! It isn't his fault that he lost his memory!"

Yusei growled, "You don't know that."

My fists clenched and tears starting again, I wailed hoarsely, "I know! I don't know how but I know it wasn't his fault!"

It was true. I had a feeling, entwined so deeply within me I couldn't shake it loose if I wanted to, that Jack had lost his memory accidentally. After spending this week with him- the best week of my life- I felt like I knew him better. _That's a lie. You know the Jack that lost his memory. You don't know much about the regular Jack Atlas. _The fission of cold going down my spine did nothing to help my returning tears go away.

"Leave her alone! You're making Carly cry you-you," Jack snarled, eyes darkening with fury as he glared at Yusei. Yusei glared right back, temper obviously not leashed again yet. I let out a wail of frustration. Pressure was only added when I heard MORE knocking on my door. I went to answer it, roughly pushing through both boys. I was in no mood to be messed with, nor to allow these two boys to hit each other again. My head was pounding dully, and everything hurt from the stress of those two nearly killing each other. Smacking open the door- forgetting to look at the peep hole (BIG mistake)- I yelled, "What the heck do YOU want?!"

A choking sound escaped me as I was grabbed by the throat and hefted into the air as if I were a rag doll. The man in front of me was very tall, dark haired and muscular. However, his eyes were what frightened me most. They were hazed over with some kind of purple energy. A kind of energy I had felt before. Putrid, twisted energy that felt faar too familiar to me. _Don't dwell on it dummy! Scream! _My brain scolded me. I gathered my energy and screamed one last time as his hold over my throat started tightening inexorably.

Flashes of darkness passed over my vision. Darkness interspersed with lines, twirling and twining and messing with my already bad vision. I couldn't catch my breath as snatches of memory drifted back; Jack, on his Duel Runner with a streak of blood down his forehead; Jack, lying dead as I cradled him in my lap; strange visions of a hellish reality and a different Jack, his eyes black where they were supposed to be white and a twisted kind of amethyst, and more…

* * *

**Jack's POV**

I howled, slamming myself into the asshole who held Carly in his unforgiving grip. He hissed, weird beyond belief eyes locking onto me. He threw Carly against Yusei, the smaller man going down in a heap with a wheezing Carly. I had only seen fights on TV, but somehow I remembered to slam my palm upward into the guy's nose as he came at me into the apartment with his fists raised. He howled, staggering backward into the edge of the door. I went after him again, pouncing on him and with sheer weight bringing the skinnier man down with a head cracking thump. I was slamming clenched fists into his face over and over, pissed beyond belief that this man would hurt the kindest, most loving woman in the world. A memory flashed into my mind at the thought; Carly smiling as she handed me a cup of steaming ramen, my favorite. The memory was disturbingly hazed over in a sheen of red. _How dare this man hurt her?! HOW DARE HE!?_ That only redoubled the force in my punishing hits.

"Jack! Jack stop! You're going to kill him!"

I felt arms grabbing me, pulling me away. _No! HE MUST DIE! HE NEARLY KILLED CARLY! Sweet, beautiful Carly… _

"NO! HE HURT CARLY! HE DESERVES TO DIE!"

"You idiot! He can tell us why he attacked Carly! So others don't get the drop on us again," Yusei growled.

That logic- familiar as my own face- penetrated the haze of rage. I backed off, shrugging off the influence of Yusei's arms. He squatted beside the nearly unrecognizable man. I was in a whirl, still trying to calm the adrenaline rush of attacking someone- albeit different someones- twice this early in the morning.

"Who are you? Who are you working for?"

The man's bloody lips and nose bubbled; now that I saw it, I was repulsed by what I had done. Staring at my hands, I realized I had his blood on them. Horrible feelings burbled up inside me like a dark, sticky stream. Shaking, I crumpled. Memories of broken faces. Faces that looked like I had crushed their every last good dream. My heart ached with pain, pain they must have felt when I did…something… to them. My butt hit the floor hard, jarring me out of the painful, dark memories. Breathing hard, I sought for something to focus on.

Then my eyes landed on Carly. She was prone on a couch, her throat bruising already from the bastard's assault. While Yusei was trying to get information out of the guy- which I ignored- I crept over to Carly. Kneeling beside her, I looked down at her. She was on the couch a little messily, but I straightened her limbs out carefully- trying not to panick when the blood on my hands sullied her as well. Instead of freaking out, I stumbled to the bathroom. One look at my bone white face and dilated pupils proved it; I was scared of myself. _How ridiculous. He hit Carly. Of COURSE he had to pay! Nobody should ever hit a queenly woman like that and get away with it… _The idea offended some deep, still buried part of me- made me want to howl to the skies in the injustice of it.

Shaking my head to clear it, I went to the sink. Seeing my bloody hands afresh sent a wave of nausea through me. _Dirtied by the blood of a commoner like that…. For a righteous purpose at least. Defending MY Queen… _My brain refused to process how possessively I was thinking of Carly beyond the feeling that she was mine, mine, mine and I'd kill the first man to attempt to go after her….

Groaning, I focused on scrubbing my hands until they were red and raw for an entirely different reason than they had been red before. I sighed, mind relieved when I realized I had finally gotten the sticky, disgusting-scented liquid off. Drying my hands on one of the towels Carly reserved for me (purple was mine and blue was Carly's towels), I breathed a sigh of relief as I exited the bathroom door. I headed back over to the couch where Carly still lay, unconscious. Yusei was dialing a phone number, but I was too numb to care once I saw Carly again. _She's tiny… What did she ever do to him? Why did he hurt her? _I knelt next to her, just staring and a painful feeling welling up in my heart. A painful, unforgiving feeling that I still couldn't put name to.

She had probably passed out a bit after the guy had attacked her. _Carly… You're so small…. How dare he attack you like this- so damn out of the blue…_ I felt a swell of anger rise up in me, but it was extinguished when I looked at the bruises on Carly's neck that were already darkening. I forced down the bile that was rising in my throat. Whoever had done this would suffer. Whoever had hurt Carly- MY Carly- would die in agony for making her feel pain like this… _A King never goes back on his word… Carly, I'll make sure he never hurts you ever again… _

I couldn't shake the feeling that Carly getting hurt was all my fault. _Maybe if I wasn't here, this guy wouldn't have come. And if this guy hadn't come, Carly wouldn't be hurt right now… It's all my fault… _I had a hard time coming up with a name to the emotion that seemed to be eating away at me right now. Silently, I brushed my hand over hers- it was open, palm up. I settled my hand into her tinier one, lips twitching a little as I felt her fingers stir. The delicate, yet work-worn digits I had seen pound over keys frantically for at least an hour straight tightened around my hand in a childish grip. I felt an equally childish surge of pleasure feeling her hand in mine. Silently cuddling her as best I could from my knees and with her on the couch, I closed my eyes for all of a second.

Unfortunately, I forgot the still-open door.

"Yusei? What on Earth is going on?!"

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**Heyyy ^^ I promise I don't intend to abandon this story! :) I've just had a horrible writer's block on this story and very little time to work on it. I'm worried about math class and I hope I'm not grounded till I'm dead for the very, very bad math grade I'm about to make... T.T Wish me luck people. I'm so sorry it took so long to update... Please leave a review! :] **

**What do you think of Yusei's breif POV? What do you think of the upheaveal? Have I kept everyone in charecter? I know Carly may seem a little ooc, but wouldn't you be frazzled after all that's happened to her? Poor girl... :) What do you think of Jack's returning mannerisms? And how he thinks of Carly as "his" Queen? Tell me what you think in a review :3**

**Hugs and virtual cookies to all who review**

**-June**


	7. Chapter 7 Meeting the Signers- Again

Carly Carmine X Jack Atlas (in other words, The Reporter and The King of Games)

Chapter Seven: Meeting The Signers- Again

_Ugh. Why do I have a splitting headache? __Oh, right... It probably happened when I smacked into poor Yusei after that attack... _I sat up sleepily, and looked about. There were a lot more people than I remembered were in here when I last looked. Akisa lay cuddled with Yusei on the floor, both being asleep. Crow was even in here curled up on the battered armchair. I looked down and saw Jack- lanky form spread out in the space between the coffee table and the couch I lay on. Our hands remained linked, and I smiled tenderly. Jack needed me so much right now... He must have been downright scared when that guy grabbed me.

_Speaking of which... _A frission of cold went down my spine as I remembered hearing half-demented howls of rage near the time I passed out. I also seemed to remember a lot of blood- or just my vision going red and dark for the briefest of seconds. And the dark memories the attack had brought in. Shuddering, with an effort, I pushed the dark feelings away in favor of looking around my house. I looked around, looking to see if the guy was tied up or something. Instead, I found myself looking straight into intense gray eyes framed by long blue-black hair. The morning sun, weak as it was, glinted off the blue and green tints to her hair. I startled a bit, my hold on Jack's hand tightening.

"Don't be scared. I won't hurt you Carly."

"H-how do you know my name?" Honestly, it was the first question that popped into my head. No matter how cheesy it sounded.

"I know about you from Crow and Yusei. They kept talking about you, but we never got the chance to come over before now. Apparently, it was destined to be so."

I blinked in bemusement. _Why the talk about destiny?_I promptly voiced my question.

"Because the Crimson Dragon foretold it. Through me."

_Scoop of the century here Carly! "Psychic" girl gone nutso... Well, maybe she isn't crazy... She did mention that she knew the boys... Although that's not a solid cla__im to sanity in and of itself... I mean, look at Kalin... _

"Carly?"

The girl's voice was a little awkward. Immediate sympathy filled me for someone who didn't know how to deal with people. Jack had been like that for a long time.

"Hehe, I'm okay. I just spaced out a little," I said, giggling. I quickly covered my mouth when I realized what I had done; hopefully that giggle hadn't woken any of the boys. _Oops. _The young woman was smiling at least.

Crow was the only one who stirred, it turned out. Sleepy grey eyes flickered from me to the girl. He opened his mouth to ask a question, but a yawn came out instead. I couldn't resist outright laughter at that one. _I think the black-haired girl isn't the only one who's gone bonkers... __I do wonder what her name is though..._

"My name's Raeven by the way. Raeven Soong."

I blinked, startled, "Waitaminnute, canyoureadminds?"

Crow was the one to snicker quietly as he rubbed his eyes, "Nope. Raeven is just annoyingly good at reading faces."

"Annoyingly good," she asked, raising an eyebrow at him.

He just laughed it off, which woke up Akisa. Yusei, on the other hand, slept through it. Jack too, although he shifted slightly and muttered something along the lines of, "Shut up Crow, a KING is trying to sleep… Ugh…."

"Wha.. Oh, Carly. You're awake," Akisa said, smiling sleepily. She sat up smoothly, in that graceful way I had always envied her for. She just rubbed the arm Yusei had wrapped possessively around her middle, and he loosened his grip enough to allow her to sit up properly.

"What went on here? Why are all of you here? I mean, at my apartment?"

Crow rolled his eyes, "I thought that was obvious, Carly. That idiot's here. We've found him after almost a year of looking."

"Oh," I said softly, feeling like an idiot for not calling them sooner. They must have been worried sick about Jack... Wait.

"Hey! Why haven't you told me that Jack might be in trouble?! I could have helped," I demanded, more than a little ticked off.

"My fault, Carly."  
I looked at Raeven confusedly. How could this whole business be **her **fault? I mean, I barely knew her so no way was I going to blame her for whatever had happened to make the Signers distance themselves from me. I mean, Akisa had still visited over here once in a while, but we had just talked dueling and fashion. Nothing remotely connected to Jack- unless you counted Dueling.

"Hey! Who are you guys? Why are you in Carly's house!"

Uh-oh. Jack was up. He sat up, looking like a grouchy little kid as he rubbed his eyes.

"Don't you remember? I'm Crow! Crow Hogan! You know, the one you used to pick on before Yusei stepped in. The red-headed one."  
Jack had an angry, mulish look in his eyes as he snapped, "No, I don't remember you! What's with people and expecting me to remember stuff I don't today!"

He instinctively pulled closer to me, glaring at everyone around him. I put a calming arm around his shoulder; this was the only time I could reach it.

"Jack, calm down. They're my friends, our friends."  
"I don't remember them."  
That statement didn't hold as much certainty as before. I sighed quietly.

"Let me explain, then."  
I blinked in surprise as Yusei sat up. He yawned after he said it, and that was when I noticed his noticeably worse than usual bedhead. Jack, as always, didn't have a lick of bedhead, I also noticed with a faint flutter of pride. _Wait, why do I feel __pride in that again? _It had been a hard couple of hours, in my opinion. The little things counted and all that.

Yusei gave Jack the short version of what had happened, up until Jack had gone away. I listened with only half an ear, watching how things had changed between my favorite people.

Akisa was closer to Yusei, as evidenced by them sleeping next to each other. OOOOO, Akisa had a bunch of things to catch me up on. I huffed softly. _Moving on to Raeven and Crow. _She was even tinier than he was, I realized belatedly. She looked pretty and delicate- nothing like me except for the black hair. Hers was even in a better cut than mine. She was cuddled close to Crow, and it was obvious she adored the redhead. It was irritating that I had been so wrapped up in my own life that I hadn't noticed so many changes in my friends' lives. Well, actually, I had been wrapped up in the last scoop, which had involved... Oh, right.

"You were the one who fought that psychic duelist who did all that damage a few months ago, weren't you Raeven!"  
Raven blinked, her grey eyes bemused for a sec. Then they darkened. The general mood darkened in the room. I was sooo confused... I normally didn't do stuff to make the room mood go like this. Crow put a protective arm around Raven, and she silently turned to him. The tense position of her back indicated a LOT of stress associated with the issue; he tried to relieve it by stroking the small of her back. How they supported each other brought an ache up to me. It used to be Jack bracing me; now the roles were reversed. He depended upon me for an anchor.

Yusei spoke first, "Carly, it... It's complex. We knew the duelist that was causing the trouble, and Raeven... Took it upon herself to fix the issue."

Something told me that this wasn't the time, but my newshound instincts were going into hyperdrive. _Do I really want to pursue this? Do I want to push it while Jack's around to hear? It may not be a good idea to push it anyways... Raeven look__s__ pretty upset. _

I just nodded, "Alright, alright, I won't push it. Tell me at some point, though, will you?" I could always dig it up from the news sheets, but I wanted them to trust me again. Since apparently they didn't anymore. Akisa nodded.

Jack stood up abruptly. I looked over quickly. He looked like he had a headache he was trying to repress. I stood up, frowning worriedly. That was when I remembered I still had the camera jammies on. I blushed profusely, wanting to hide myself behind Jack's tall frame but sticking it out. He tugged me with him, and I uttered a yeep as he dragged me into my bedroom.

"You need to change, Carly."  
His tone was semi-embaressed, semi... something else that I wasn't sure I wanted to look into. He turned away, and I realized he meant that change with him in here.

"Jack, we were over this. A girl doesn't change in front of guys!" _No matter how much she likes them. _

"And a girl shouldn't wear pjs in from of guys! Other guys anyways..." He mumbled, looking over his shoulder breifly.  
Wait. If I didn't know better, i'd say Jack was being possessive. And all without memories. Interesting.

"You mean you like seeing me in pjs?"

His pale cheeks blushed so fast I wanted to giggle, if it weren't for the absurdity of the situation. Spluttering, he managed, "N-no! I mean yes! ARRRRGH!"

He was waving his fists, splutteringly trying to explain, when I started tugging at my shirt. Jack whipped around so fast I swear he gave himself a headache. He covered his eyes for good measure, and I grinned faintly. I wouldn't blame him for playing pervert; it gave me a small nosebleed to think about Jack Atlas (even memoryless) peeking on me of all people.

Changing into my regular outfit hurriedly, I was soon decent again. But my heart had been racing the whole time, wondering if Jack was looking at my rather unimpressive figure. I never had much time for working out, and my breasts weren't the biggest... Shaking my head, I swept those worries aside for later. Time to figure out what was going on with the rest of the Signers.

"I'm decent Jack."

He turned around, and a small smile tugged at the corners of his lips. To my slight surprise, he pulled me into a strong hug. I smiled, hugging back as I felt him bury his face in my hair and inhale. It was a little ritual of his, when we first woke up. It fellt good that he wanted to hold me, but I couldn't help but wonder if it would be like this when his memories returned. _Probably not, _I decided, _so I'll enjoy this while it lasts. _I snuggled into him, burying my face in his oversized white shirt. He had to borrow clothes from various neighbors when I had wash day with his two sets of clothing, and this was one of the days when he had chosen to wear the too-large in the middle white shirt.

I squeaked softly when I felt Jack nuzzle into my hair. That was oddly intimate, even for the little waking up ritual.  
"Carly..."  
His voice was soft and husky, different from the voice of the Jack I had known this past week. His hands caressed my hair, and I could feel something wet dribble onto my head. I froze. Jack never cried. He wasn't a crier; I was the crier in our whatever it was. But here he was, shaking with barely repressed noises and tears dripping onto my head. He sniffled quietly, shaking a little.

"J-Jack? What's wrong?"

In a rasping, slightly choked voice he mumbled, "You... You d-died... the Dark Signers... Killed you... I..."

I wanted to laugh, to show him that I wasn't dead, that I was safe and sound and he was holding me, but... something prevented me. Maybe it was the fact that I felt a ring of truth to his words. Maybe it was the faint, but there memory that fluttered into my mind at that statement. I had been Dueling... someone. A red-headed someone that wasn't Akisa. I knew that mostly because the person didn't have the requisite female parts, and then I realized there was the eye color diffrence. I lost the Duel... _Of course, _I thought, a little disgusted with myself. There was a blast, and then falling... Right then I drew a blank on what happened when I hit the ground. It was like a bad dream where if you didn't die during, you'd wake up afterwards in a cold sweat or something.

Shaking my head, I shoved aside the memory. Jack was still shaking- still frightened. I gently patted his back, trying to get loose. Eventually managing, I took his face in cupped hands.

"Jack."

He averted his eyes stubbornly, which weren't red yet with crying. He sniffed quietly.

"JACK."  
That got his attention. Amethyst eyes swerved to meet my dark pair.

"Listen to me. You're a King, do you remember that? And Kings shouldn't cry where everyone and their brother sees." Unable to resist, his tears so confusingly moving, I added, "But it's okay to cry in front of your Queen."

The smile coming over his face was like a sunrise.

"Okay, my Queen," he said softly, smiling as he leaned in and did something that COMPLETELY threw me for a loop. Even more so than him calling me Queen. HIS Queen.

He kissed me. Not on the cheek, but on the lips...

* * *

**Heyyy... ^^' I am SO sorry I took this long to update... My only excuse is that I had a horrid dry spell for this fic. Now, abruptly, it's fertile ground again. Please, please leave a review! **

**Happy 4th of July to those who live in America like me! **

**Leave a review! **

**-June**


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